CN102422553A - near field communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

A near field communication device (100) for providing a communication path between a processing unit of the device and an external device, wherein the device (100) comprises: -the processing unit (102) and-a control unit (101) connected to the processing unit, wherein the control unit (101) is adapted to establish communication between the control unit and the external device (104) for providing a communication path between the processing unit and the external device via the control unit acting as a gateway.

Description

near field communication device

technical field

The invention relates to a near field communication device for providing a communication path between a processing unit of said device and an external device.

Among other things, the invention relates to a method for providing a communication path between a processing unit of said device and an external device.

In addition, the present invention relates to a communication system.

Furthermore, the invention relates to a program element.

Furthermore, the present invention relates to a computer readable medium.

Background technique

The number of applications used in mobile devices, especially mobile phones, is increasing. Accordingly, the manner of communication performed by mobile phones has changed. For example Near Field Communication (NFC) is adopted by mobile phones for various applications such as smart posters, ticketing, payment, etc. For example, ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute, European Telecommunications Standards Institute) is specifying the host controller interface and single wire protocol (single wireprotocol) standard for UICC (universal integrated circuit card) host (such as SIM card) and NFC device (in mobile phone) NFC chip) interaction. This standard can also be used for the interaction between the mobile host (main processor of the mobile terminal) and said NFC device.

In such NFC enabled devices there are typically one or more secure elements (secure memory for storing transaction related information). A SIM (Customer Identity Module) card or UICC is also such a secure element and can come in other forms such as a secure element in a removable SDIO (Secure Digital Input Output) memory card or a contactless secure element (embedded or integrated in NFC integrated circuit (IC)). Typically, a SIM card or SDIO card memory has a contact interface with the mobile host processor. Whether or not the device is NFC-enabled, it can be used for various operations such as configuration, downloading applications, and restoring state information to the secure element, controlled by protocols such as ISO 7816. Usually, the mobile phone needs to establish connections between the NFC device and the host and between the UICC and the host.

Contents of the invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide an efficient and simple near field communication device for providing a communication path between a processing unit of said near field communication device and an external device.

In order to achieve the above objects, there is provided a near field communication device for providing a communication path between a processing unit of said device and an external device, a communication system, a near field communication device according to the independent claims. A method of providing a communication path between a processing unit of a device and an external device, as well as a program element and a computer-readable medium.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a near field communication device for providing a communication path between a processing unit of the device and an external device, the device comprising the processing unit and a device connected to the processing unit A control unit, wherein said control unit is adapted to establish communication between said control unit and said external device, for communication between said processing unit and said external device via said control unit acting as a gateway (gateway) provide a communication path between them.

According to yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a method for providing a communication path between a processing unit of a near field communication device and an external device is provided, wherein the method includes: connecting the control unit of the near field communication device with the Communication is established between the external devices, and a communication path is provided between the processing unit and the external devices via the control unit functioning as a gateway.

According to another typical embodiment of the present invention, a communication system is provided, the communication system includes the near field communication device having the above features and an external device.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a program element (such as a software program, source code or executable code), which, when executed by a processor, is adapted to control or perform a method having the above-mentioned characteristics .

According to yet another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable medium (such as CD, DVD, USB memory stick, floppy disk or hard disk), in which a computer program is stored, when processed When executed by a computer, the computer program is adapted to control or perform a method having the above-mentioned characteristics.

Providing a communication path between a processing unit and an external device, which may be implemented according to an embodiment of the present invention, may utilize a computer program, ie, software, or utilize one or more dedicated electronically optimized circuits, ie, hardware, or a hybrid form, ie, utilize software components and hardware components. to fulfill.

The term "Near Field Communication" (NFC) may refer to short-range high-frequency wireless communication technology that enables data exchange between devices over short distances, such as 10 centimeters or about 4 inches. The technology is a simple extension of the ISO/IEC 14443 proximity-card standard (contactless card, RFID), which combines a smart card and a reader interface in a single device. NFC devices can communicate with existing ISO/IEC 14443 smart cards and readers, as well as with other NFC devices, making them compatible with existing contactless infrastructure already used for public transport and payments. NFC and the invention can be used, for example, in mobile phones.

The term "processing unit" may denote eg a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card, a UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card) or any other secure element in a communication device.

The term "control unit" may denote any kind of unit capable of providing a gateway for the processing unit to external devices.

The communication device may provide a gateway via the control unit such that there is no direct communication path between the external device and the processing unit. In this way, a secure device can be provided, since there is no direct access to the processing unit, which can be any kind of secure element.

In the following, other typical embodiments of the near field communication device will also be clarified. However, these embodiments also apply to the communication system, the method, the program element and the computer-readable medium.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit may be adapted to switch communication with a plurality of external devices. Thus, a plurality of external devices can communicate with the processing unit. This communication can be via different communication paths, for example directly via a contact interface and associated protocols (ISO 7816) or indirectly via a contactless front end (NFC IC). The NFC IC can be used as a bridge between the SIM card or processing unit and the mobile main processor.

According to an embodiment of the invention, said control unit is adapted to control synchronization of communications with a plurality of external devices. Thus, the communication can be organized so that there is no interference between different external devices.

According to an embodiment of the invention, said processing unit is a secure element. A secure element can be used to store a user's digital ID, such as a payer, in a very difficult to compromise manner. The secure elements used in the "secure NFC" technology enable sensitive applications in the multifunctional range of mobile devices, such as payment transactions. A SIM card, a secure flash card, or an embedded security controller can be used as a secure element. In this context, all security-related transactions and data can be handled with the secure element. Secure NFC can be seen as a secure container integrated in a mobile device. Different applications can be stored within such a secure container, running independently of each other and the mobile device itself.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the processing unit is a Universal Integrated Circuit Card or a Customer Identity Module Card.

The term "Subscriber Identity Module" (SIM) card may refer to a SIM on a removable SIM card on which certain data is securely stored, such as service subscriber passwords used to identify users on mobile technology devices such as computers and mobile phones. key (service-subscriber key) (IMSI).

The term "Universal Integrated Circuit Card" (UICC) may denote smart cards used in mobile terminals in GSM and UMTS networks. The UICC can guarantee the integrity and security of various personal data.

According to another embodiment, said control unit is adapted to establish communication with said processing unit using a single wire protocol. Single Wire Protocol (SWP) may be a specification for a single wire connection between the SIM card and the NFC chip in the mobile phone.

According to an embodiment of the invention, said processing unit is free from direct communication connection with said external device. Therefore, the security of such devices is increased since there are no other communication paths.

According to an embodiment of the invention, said device is a mobile device.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the device is implemented as at least one of the following devices: mobile phone, hearing aid, voice recorder, teleconferencing device, portable audio player, portable video player, head-mounted display, medical communication system , body-worn devices, DVD players, CD players, hard disk media players, Internet radio devices, public entertainment devices, and MP3 players.

In the following, other typical embodiments of the communication system will also be clarified. However, these embodiments also apply to the near field communication device, the method, the program element and the computer readable medium.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the external device is a mobile host. The mobile host may be any external device or portable terminal connected to the processing unit via the control unit.

Said near field communication (NFC) device may be adapted for wireless communication with said external device, in particular a reading means for reading data from said NFC device. For this purpose, the NFC device and the reading device may comprise corresponding transmission elements. For example, the NFC device may comprise an antenna, wherein the reading device may comprise a corresponding receiving antenna. However, the device according to the invention is not restricted to wireless or contactless data transmission, but in principle also applies to wireless communication.

The above and other aspects of the invention are understandable from and elucidated with reference to the examples of embodiment described hereinafter.

Description of drawings

Hereinafter, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples of embodiment but to which the invention is not limited.

Fig. 1 illustrates a near field communication device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a near field communication device and system according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 illustrates a simplified system overview of a conventional communication system.

Figure 4 illustrates the interface communication between the processing unit (UICC) and the control unit (NFC device).

Detailed ways

The diagrams in the figure are schematic diagrams. In different figures, the same reference symbols are used to designate similar or equivalent elements.

A typical NFC enabled device like a mobile phone has a secure storage element, mostly in the form of a SIM card (UICC). In the following, an alternative and unified method of accessing such a secure element from the mobile host processor using the NFC IC (Contactless Front End: CLF) is described.

In a common NFC-enabled device, there are typically one or more secure elements (secure memory for storing transaction-related information). A SIM (UICC) card is also such a secure element and may be in other forms such as a secure element in a removable SDIO memory card or a contactless secure element. Typically, a SIM card or SDIO card memory has a contact interface with the mobile host processor. This can be used for various operations such as provisioning, downloading applications and restoring state information to the secure element, which are governed by protocols like ISO 7816.

A typical system is depicted in FIG. 3 . In the case of an NFC-enabled device 300, the NFC IC 301 provides a kind of contactless front-end for these secure elements 302, 303, which are visible to an external RF reader or read via RF the included antenna 305. Contactless cards, thus making these secure elements contactless secure elements. The interface between the SIM card and the NFCIC is defined by the ETSI SWP and ETSI HCI standards. The mobile main processor 304 is also connected with the NFC IC through another interface. This connection is typically used to configure the NFCIC and obtain status information. Such a set of status information (transaction ID, transaction start, transaction end, etc.) passed to the mobile host processor contains what transaction took place between the external reader and the SIM card.

Figure 4 illustrates the NFC host controller interface. ETSI defines between UICC (SIM) or smart card and contactless front end (NFC device) in the technical specification ETSI TS 102613V7.4.0(2008-12)-SWP and ETSI TS 102622 V7.3.0(2008-12)-HCI Interface. The basic concept of the NFC HCI is a standardized Command-Response and Event exchange mechanism (standardized Command-Response and Event exchange mechanism) between the host and the main processor as shown in FIG. 4 . The command exchange occurs between gates representing specific features/modules using logical connections called pipelines.

The ETSI HCI specification details specific Gates, Pipelines, Commands, Responses and Events for Smartcard/UICC to CLF interface. The mechanism used in the present invention is similar to that used for NFC IC, exposing the SmartMX secure element connected to the NFC IC through the S2C interface (also called NFC-WI or NFC wired interface) to the mobile host. processor. The NFC-WI is basically used to expose the secure element to the external RF reader, but is also used to make the secure element accessible to the host processor through the NFC IC.

As shown in FIG. 3, the SIM card 302 and similar secure storage element 303 are connected to the mobile host processor 304 through two interfaces. Directly via a contact interface (direct link between mobile host processor and UICC) and related protocols (ISO 7816) and indirectly via a contactless front end (NFC IC). NFC IC 301 acts as a bridge between the SIM card and the mobile main processor.

In typical NFC applications, SIM cards used as secure memory need to be managed using ISO7816 commands, such as downloading applications, setting permissions and enabling/disabling applications visible from external RF readers, knowing access from external readers Which application is it, etc. The plurality of interfaces to realize the application needs to access the SIM card through two different interfaces for secure storage related functions. All communication based on ISO7816 needs to be via a contact interface. Information about external RF reader access is only available through the NFC IC mobile host processor interface.

This is further complicated by the fact that an application using an NFC IC and an application using an ISO7816 contact link can be different software entities, requiring synchronization mechanisms when interdependent sequences have to be performed. It is also important to avoid simultaneous access to the SIM card between these two interfaces and when accessed via the NFC IC via an external RF reader. This can lead to transaction conflicts or failure of transactions completed by external readers.

In order to overcome the problems caused by multiple interfaces, a near field communication device is provided, wherein said NFC IC provides a mechanism to send ISO7816 commands to a SIM card. As shown in Figure 1. When all communications with the SIM 102 are via the NFC IC 101, a priority access policy can be implemented to avoid any transaction synchronization or transaction conflict or transaction failure issues, such as making certain accesses mutually exclusive.

This solution takes advantage of the fact that the NFC IC is connected to the SIM via the SWP interface, to the mobile host processor 104 via other interfaces, and to an external RF reader via RF. Second, the external RF reader interacts with the SIM (secure storage of the SIM) using the ISO7816 protocol after the SIM has been activated by the NFC protocol interaction between the RF reader and the NFC IC, typically. Third, the NFC IC can also be used as a card reader on behalf of the host processor.

In this case, the NFC IC detects external contactless cards in the field, activates them and notifies the mobile host processor of the activation. After this, the mobile host processor can transact with external cards using a protocol like ISO7816, which depends on the type of card.

Therefore, the NFC IC or the control unit can combine the activation features of the three reader SIMs for the ISO7816 interaction channel between the mobile host processor, the NFC IC and the SIM to simulate an external RF reader, and can provide the mobile main processor with a channel to send ISO7816 commands to the SIM card. Therefore, all NFC-related communication with the SIM card can be done with a single interface via the NFC IC.

The NFC IC or control unit 101 used here may include an antenna, an RF reader gate and an RF technology processor. It is possible to communicate with the additional secure element 103 via NFC-WI or some other interface and with the UICC 102 via SWP.

The processing unit or NFC IC provides a mechanism for moving the host, and is used to configure the NFC IC of the reader emulation mode to the SIM card, as shown in Figure 2. The host processor 204 issues this command whenever access to the SIM 202 is required for ISO7816 command exchange. When this mode is activated, the NFC IC 201 will be able to realize the discovery of the SIM card 202 or other optional secure element 203 in the reader mode in the same way as detecting and activating an external card.

The NFC IC selects and activates the SIM card as if there were an external reader. The NFC IC notifies the mobile host processor of the card's activation to the mobile host processor as if the card were an external card. After this, the mobile host can transact with the SIM card as if the card were an external card using a protocol such as ISO7816.

Since the NFC IC has two different modes, access to the SIM can easily be made mutually exclusive between the mobile host processor and the external RF reader 205. When the NFC IC exposes the SIM to an external RF reader, it is in a so-called "card emulation" mode. When the NFC IC exposes the SIM to the mobile host processor, it is in the so-called "reader" mode.

The communication system 200 provides a single interface for NFC applications to access SIMs using NFCIC. A single access interface is also advantageous when there are multiple secure elements in the system, such as dual SIM cards or SDIO type secure memory connected via SWP to NFC IC and mobile host processor via contact interface.

The system inherently avoids any access conflicts and synchronization issues between SIM access via the contact interface and via the NFC IC. It avoids SIM access conflicts and synchronization issues by using an external RF reader and mobile host processor.

Furthermore, it may reduce the need for pins on the SIM's contact interface to provide support for ISO7816 interaction. These pins can be used for some other functions. Since the mode is transparent to the SIM card, the system does not require any changes in the SIM implementation, and since the method of accessing the external card is already implemented, no new mechanism is required on the mobile host processor side.

It should be noted that the term "comprising" does not exclude other elements or features, and "a" does not exclude a plurality. Likewise, elements described in connection with different embodiments may be combined.

It should also be noted that reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claims.

Claims (13)

1. A near-field communication device (100), configured to provide a communication path between a processing unit of the device and an external device, the device (100) comprising: said processing unit (102); a control unit (101) connected to said processing unit; wherein said control unit (101) is adapted to establish communication between said control unit and said external device (104) for communication between said processing unit and said external device via said control unit acting as a gateway provide a communication path between Wherein the control unit (101) is suitable for switching communication with multiple external devices. 2. The apparatus (100) according to claim 3, wherein The control unit (101) is adapted to control synchronization of communications with a plurality of external devices. 3. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1, wherein The processing unit (102) is a secure element. 4. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1, wherein The processing unit (102) is a Universal Integrated Circuit Card or a Customer Identity Module Card. 5. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1, wherein The control unit (101) is adapted to establish communication with the processing unit (102) using a single wire protocol. 6. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1, wherein The processing unit (102) has no direct communication connection with the external device. 7. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1, wherein The device (100) is a mobile device. 8. The apparatus (100) according to claim 1, The device is implemented as at least one of the following: a mobile phone, a hearing aid, a voice recorder, a teleconferencing device, a portable audio player, a portable video player, a head-mounted display, a medical communication system, a wearable device, a DVD player, a CD Players, Hard Disk Media Players, Internet Radio Equipment, Public Entertainment Equipment, and MP3 Players. 9. A communication system (200) comprising the device according to claim 1 and external devices (204, 205). 10. The communication system according to claim 10, wherein The external device (204) is a mobile host. 11. A method for providing a communication path between a processing unit of a near field communication device and an external device, the method comprising: establishing communication between the control unit of the near field communication device and the external device, and providing a communication path between the processing unit and the external device via the control unit acting as a gateway, Communication with a plurality of external devices is switched by the control unit. 12. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon a computer program for providing a communication path between a processing unit and an external device, said computer program being adapted to perform or control a device according to claim 1 when said computer program is executed by a processor. 11 as described in the method. 13. A program element for providing a communication path between a processing unit and an external device, said program element being adapted to perform or control a method according to claim 11 when said program element is executed by a processor.

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